The Highway Forums General Discussion Theology Discussion Forum Leavened or Unleavened?

Fellow saints,<br><br>I would be interested to hear any positions of preference for leavened or unleavened bread in the Lord's Supper. Do you have one, why?<br><br>Sincerely in Christ,<br><br>~Jason<br>

Jason, we use at our church the unleavened bread the "matsa " for that is what our Lord must have used sins it was the Passover holiday.

Jason,<br><br>I would prefer unleavened bread, but if none was available, and I can conceive of several different scenerios where this might happen, leavened would no doubt suffice. Why? Because the biblical record says that wine and unleavened bread was used by Christ so it would seem prudent to do likewise were possible.<br><br>In His Grace,

Hi Pilgrim,<br><br>Thanks for answering. As far as Christ using unleavened bread, wouldn't that be because such was required by the Passover? I would think that for Him not to use unleavened bread would have been disobedient to the law, which He would not do, and hence there was no alternative.<br><br>Warm regards,<br><br>~Jason<br>

I would agree with Pilgrim here, but here is one for you: DO you drink real wine in communion or just grape juice? We use real wine.

<blockquote><font size=1>In reply to:</font><hr>[color:"blue"]As far as Christ using unleavened bread, wouldn't that be because such was required by the Passover? I would think that for Him not to use unleavened bread would have been disobedient to the law, which He would not do, and hence there was no alternative.</font><hr></blockquote><p>Certainly! [img]http://www.the-highway.com/w3timages/icons/grin.gif" alt="grin" title="grin[/img] But how does that impact on us today? Are you suggesting:<ol>[*]that the ONLY reason which Christ used the traditional unleaven bread was because it was required by law . . .</li>[*]that because Christ "fulfilled" the law it is no longer applicable to the Church . . .</li>[*]that there is no symbolic or typological meaning in unleaven bread . . .</li>[/LIST]~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<br><br>And you would respond with:<ul>[*]All of the above?</li>[*]Some of the above?</li>[*]None of the above?</li>[*]You personally prefer unleaven bread?</li>[/LIST]In His Grace,

Question for knowledgeable parties: Has the church traditionally employed unleavened bread in the Lord's Supper? I've encountered both leavened and unleavened.

An interesting story I heard from one of the elders at my church. They used leavened bread. There was one person who would pass the plate along, reach into his pocket and take out a piece of unleavened bread. After looking into it the elders decided to switch use unleavened bread.

Every church where I was a member used grape juice except for one. At that church the tray had an outer ring of grape juice the rest was wine.

Personal preference is matzo (Jewish unleavened bread) although I do have a Greek orthodox cookbook that has instructions for making leavened altar bread including what symbols to carve into the loaf. And my reasons is the same as Pilgrim.

Hi Pilgrim,<br><br>My point in bringing up the issue about unleavened bread being used in the Passover is that we can't know for sure one way or another whether the element is specifically intended for the Lord's Supper by looking to the first institution by Christ. If we infer the preference of unleavened bread because it was used at the Last Supper, how far and how consistently should we apply this? Should we also prefer to celebrate the Supper at twilight? What prescriptions do we borrow from the Passover without being arbitrary?<br><br><blockquote><font size=1>In reply to:</font><hr>[color:"blue"] Are you suggesting: .... that there is no symbolic or typological meaning in unleaven bread . . .</font><hr></blockquote><p><br><br>I think this is a stronger point, and may also be strengthened by 1 Corinthians 5:8, "Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." Though he is not specifically addressing the Lord's Supper here, there is a repeated principle connecting leaven with sin, and there still may be a secondary allusion here to the feast of the New Covenant, though nothing that could be pressed strongly.<br><br>Personally, my preference has been to use whatever kind of bread is ordinarilly eaten as bread, but I've not really fleshed out the arguments from both sides, which is why I asked. [img]http://www.the-highway.com/w3timages/icons/grin.gif" alt="grin" title="grin[/img]<br><br>Sincerely in Christ,<br><br>~Jason<br><br>

When I started with my first PCA church, the pastor used a round loaf of 'leavened' bread. It was baked by one of the women in the church, specifically for the Lord's Supper and it was definitely a yeast risen bread. Coming from a Catholic/Episcopal background, where all that was used at either church were the wafers, I was a bit confused so I asked him about it. <br><br>He said the 'leavened' bread of Scripture was what we would today call sourdough, whereby the 'starter' for a new loaf comes from the remnants of a previous loaf. The analogy reminded me of the Covenant, not putting new wine into old wineskins, sewing new patches on old clothes, and I still prefer it. <br><br>I have to say, though, I have never seen another PCA church do this.<br><br>Blessings,<br><br>Hannahsmom<br><br>